Designing a low maintenance garden

14 Jan Designing a low maintenance garden

Posted at 13:08h in Garden Design by Tapestry Design Studios 0 Comments

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Love being outdoors but hate gardening? In this article, we’re looking at ways to have a beautiful low maintenance garden.

Declutter – your garden will suddenly look far more inviting
Make a list of the ways you’d like to use your garden
Think about the features you’ll need to help you make the most of your outdoor space
Engage a garden designer to help you plan a new, improved garden
Choose the right plants for the right place and they’ll almost look after themselves
Investigate low maintenance landscaping materials such as natural stone, porcelain paving and/or composite decking and fencing
Learn a few simple gardening techniques such as feeding and mulching that will ultimately save you time
Use technology to the max – robot lawn mowers and automated irrigation systems are enormously helpful.

Tools like this robot lawnmower can free up your time for more enjoyable tasks

Low maintenance garden vs neglected garden

There’s a big difference between a low maintenance garden and one that hasn’t been well maintained. Low maintenance gardens look loved, add value to a property, and are a real boost to mental health. Neglected gardens are the exact opposite. Broken slabs, weedy lawns, and domestic debris will damage your self-esteem and do nothing to improve relations with your neighbours.

Need a low maintenance garden that looks good and meets all of your family’s needs? Good garden design is key. Choosing plants and materials that you find easy to look after and installing them in a logical layout will help you to enjoy your outdoor space on a long term basis.

What features should you include in a low maintenance garden?

The features in your garden should of course reflect your personality and your lifestyle. If you have active children and pets, you’ll need some play space. Like cooking and relaxing outdoors? Create an area with plenty of privacy that won’t need setting up every time you use it.

Some of our most frequently requested garden features include

Patios and hard surfaces – ideal for seating areas, outdoor kitchens, and quiet play.
Barbecue area – perhaps with pergola for shade (or to keep your coals dry in a sudden rain shower)
Sheds and storage – keep that clutter out of sight and out of mind
Paths and driveways – get to your door with dry feet – that way, your garden won’t be making you any extra housework.
Gardens without grass – to save time on lawn maintenance
Easy care planting – plenty of colour and interest but without complicated weeding, watering, and feeding
Garden lighting – to extend the time you can spend outdoors

This carefully designed outdoor kitchen is bursting with functional features but needs minimal maintenance

Materials for a low maintenance garden

Needing a low maintenance garden is no excuse for just paving over the whole area and pressure washing it once a year. That’s not a garden, that’s a yard. It’s uninspiring and although it might be easy to keep tidy, it’s not somewhere you’ll enjoy spending time.

A low maintenance garden should feel like a holiday destination. A beautiful space where you can just “be”. Somewhere with a sense of luxury but without the worries of daily gardening chores. The colour green is known to have a positive effect on our wellbeing, so plants are absolutely essential….even if you only have a few of them.

Look for landscape surfaces in neutral colours, to give your garden a luxurious feel. As a general rule of thumb, stone, porcelain, and composite decking are the least demanding. Try to avoid hard landscaping in areas that tend to be dark and damp – these are the places where fallen leaves gather and where algae and moss are most likely to grow and where surfaces need the most cleaning.

Artificial grass seems to be one landscaping material that is frequently associated with low maintenance gardens. It can be great, but remember it will never be “no maintenance”. Fake grass does need brushing from time to time to stop moss and weeds growing in it and to fluff up the pile. Lower maintenance alternatives include a natural lawn with a robot mower, a gravel garden, or a wildflower lawn. Some wildflower lawns grow long and lovely, others can be mown once a fortnight for a neater look.

Plants in containers are super-easy to look after. There’s no digging and minimal weeding. Install an automated irrigation system so that you don’t need to worry about watering.

Examples of low maintenance gardens

What’s your garden style? Below you’ll find some pictures of low maintenance gardens designed by the Tapestry Design Studios team. Click on the link below each picture to find out more about the project. And if you like what you see, get in touch with Tapestry Design Studios for a bespoke low maintenance garden design to improve your own plot.

Low maintenance garden with artificial grass and an inviting seating area (planting will be added soon). Read more here

Low maintenance front garden for maximum kerb appeal. Tapestry Design Studios also designed the back garden for this property. More details here

Attractive driveway with easy-care surfaces and low maintenance planting. See the project details here

The ultimate low maintenance garden – a small, newbuild garden in Colchester. Read about it here

Help to design your low maintenance garden

No matter what size, shape, age or style of your garden, the team at Tapestry Design Studios are on hand to help you design your very own low maintenance garden. Call us today for an informal chat and to find out how a bespoke garden design can really enhance your lifestyle.

Contact Tapestry Design Studios